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10 Key Business Plan Elements Not In A Product Spec

Startup Professionals Musings

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. You may have heard that venture capitalists in Silicon Valley no longer read business plans. Provide specifics on the customer business model.

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Blowing up the Business Plan at U.C. Berkeley Haas Business School

Steve Blank

Starting in the 1950’s, Stanford’s engineering department became “outward facing” and developed a culture of spinouts and active faculty support and participation in the first wave of Silicon Valley startups. Given its inward focus, Berkeley has always been the neglected sibling in Silicon Valley entrepreneurship.

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Corporate Acquisitions of Startups: Why Do They Fail?

Steve Blank

For decades large companies have gone shopping in Silicon Valley for startups. Silicon Valley – a Corporate Innovation Candy Store. Corporate business development and strategic partner executives are flocking to Silicon Valley to find these five types of innovation.

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Why Governments Don’t Get Startups

Steve Blank

In Silicon Valley the equivalent is the journeyman coder or web designer who loves the technology, and takes coding and U/I jobs because it’s a passion. Small Business Startups: Work to Feed the Family. They are anyone who runs his/her own business. They work as hard as any Silicon Valley entrepreneur.

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Don’t Underrate The Value Of A Startup Plan Document

Startup Professionals Musings

If you sold your last startup for $800 million, you probably already know how to build a business, and even conservative investors won’t worry about the quality of your next business plan. A great business plan doesn’t have to be a book in length, with extensive financial statements.

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Innovation, Change and the Rest of Your Life

Steve Blank

I’ve seen the Valley grow from Sunnyvale to Santa Clara to today where it stretches from San Jose to South of Market in San Francisco. I’ve watched the Valley go from Microwave Valley – to Defense Valley – to Silicon Valley to Internet Valley. So how did this happen? Where is it going?

Restful 227
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Love/Hate Business Plan Competitions

Steve Blank

I hate business plan competitions. I Love Business Plan Competitions I had a breakfast with a friend who has founded a few companies in Thailand and started the New Ventures Program at one of their universities. If you are outside of Silicon Valley, you ought to jump into them with both feet.